A/N: I am SO sorry it has taken so long to get this story updated :( I can't believe it's been 5 years :'( This was actually supposed to be up yesterday, but we had some strong winds in my area that knocked out our power :/ Luckily my town wasn't hit very bad so our power company was able to come out pretty quickly to fix it, it just came back on a little while ago and I got right to work going through the final edit to get this posted ;)
I won't go into all the details for why it took 5 years to get back to this story, all the things that happened that kept me trying to update and get back online and then falling off again :/ Life is basically what it boils down to. A lot of things happening and changing beyond the, you know, obvious thing that's happened the last year :/ Each time I felt like I was in a good place to get back and posting, something else would come up and just knock me down again :/
But early last year I got to a point where things seemed to be stabilizing and getting into something of a routine and I felt like I could really try to come back again. I've learned my lesson from other attempts, started very, very slow by posting only 2x a week and focusing on the stories I had left unfinished during that time, putting all other stories on pause, like this one. Then moved into trying to catch up/complete some series in the last few months of 2020. My Lord of the Rings series is now complete, as is Sherlock and Leena (for now), and I introduced a new DW OC The Detective/Sigma for anyone interested.
Since things kept relatively smooth and on schedule last year, I tried to bump up my posting to 3x a week this year. AND I'm trying to get the side stories (Spin-offs, Sequels, and AUs) back up and running.
But, again, it will be VERY slow going to start.
So what I will be doing with the side stories is I am going to post A chapter for 2 stories in a month. There are/will be 12 side stories, so 2 stories will have a new chapter each month and I'll rotate through them, and now we're at Flashover! :D
I posted on tumblr the order of what stories I'll be updating each month. I'll be aiming to post a chapter around the 15th and 30th of a month. I'll also be trying to space them out where we're not getting stories from just 1 series in a month and maybe try to space out the AUs a little more too.
I know it may seem very slow, because it would mean this story will only be updated 1 more time this year after this chapter, but after being on pause 5 years, something is better than nothing, right? And if I can keep up the 2 updates a month, I may bump it up to 3 a month once I get through the 12 side stories ;)
For now, we're on Flashover but check out my tumblr's Upcoming Stories page for more of a schedule for the other ones ;)
Now onto the chapter!
~8~
What is this Bull?
It had become a habit now, Maria realized, each time she stopped into the museum for her shift, that she'd visit the painting of a better Camelot, its Golden Age. Everyone knew the stories of King Arthur, how his wife Guinevere had betrayed him with his best friend Lancelot, leaving the kingdom to fall to a ruin not even the wizard Merlin could save it from. The version Killian, the curator, had shared with her was a nicer thought, and she couldn't put a finger on it, why she kept coming back to that painting and looking at it before she left. It just felt like…there was something in it she should be seeing that was escaping her.
"Ah, my dear," Killian spoke as he approached her, "I thought you'd left for the day."
"I was," Maria smiled at him, "I just…" she took a breath, "I like looking at the painting. It's…nice…to think that something good could have happened to Camelot, in one version of a story, than what most of literature thinks."
"It is not merely one version of A story," he remarked, "There are…quite a few tales that spawned from Arthur's Witch Queen, a number of them, all culminating in this," he gestured to the painting, of the coronation of Arthur's son.
"What were they like?" Maria wondered, "Those stories."
"Do you have some time?" he chuckled, "There are quite a few."
Maria considered it a moment, countering how long she'd been there with when her shift as Arthur's secretary was going to start, "I could probably hear one or two."
Killian seemed quite pleased with that, "Well then, we'd best get comfortable," he replied, leading her over to a bench against the back wall, "You're in for quite a tale. You see, the legends begin with Merlin arriving in Camelot and stepping right into trouble at every turn. However, it wasn't till his sister joined him that the real story beings…"
~8~
Maria was pretty sure she was going to be fired if she didn't make it back to Pendragon Security in the very near future, but hearing the curator spinning what he knew of the tales of this 'alternate' Camelot were just too good, they drew her in and, before she knew it, it wasn't one or two stories he'd shared but nearly 5.
But the more she listened to the tales, the more...uncomfortable...she grew with it.
Because the more stories he told her…the more she couldn't help but notice disturbing parallels to what had happened to her and Merlin over the last few months.
Merlin had arrived at Pendragon Security before her, much like the wizard who shared his name had arrived in Camelot before his sister. And when the sister joined…Merlin was fired, a knight was cheating, and that Arthur made up for it by taking that Merlin out to drink. Then Arthur was showing the sister around, and she inspired him to begin an apprenticeship program for orphans…much like she had talked Arthur into a sort of defense camp for less fortunate children. There was a witch who was poisoning the water supply, Merlin's sister had been attacked by a knight when she caught him abusing the King's favored horse, and another poisoning involving wine that threated both Merlin and his sister…
It was eerie how close those stories came to her and Merlin's experiences.
"And then the Witch Queen convinced Arthur to shirk his duties for a day in the forest and…" Killian cut himself off, "Oh, forgive me, my dear. I'll save the rest for another time."
Maria shook herself out of her thoughts, turning to him again, "Why can't you tell them now?" she frowned.
He laughed, "Because, it is already well past lunch, and I am sure young Mr. Pendragon has many assignments in store for you."
Maria's eyes widened and she checked her wrist as though to see the time, only to realize she didn't have a watch on, and jumped to her feet, "It's past noon?" she repeated, quickly grabbing her bag, "I'm so sorry, I've got to run…" she said in a huff, before racing out the door, she thought she had more time than that!
If Arthur didn't fire her for being late, Merlin was certainly going to kill her for leaving him with Arthur so long by himself.
~8~
Maria was not a happy camper through most of the rest of her day, once she got to Pendragon Security, just barely making it with seconds to spare. Arthur hadn't been lying when he told her and Merlin to take a few days to recover from being poisoned. Sadly, naively, and foolishly, they'd believed that meant he'd handle his own affairs during that time. But no, not even close.
Not even 2 days later, they were back to work, and there were piles of mail and phone calls and emails to write, errands to run, things to do. It was like Arthur hadn't bothered to do ANY of it himself while they were gone and was just saving it for them to do when they got back.
It took them a whole 4 days more to catch up!
The only good part of the last near-week had been that Arthur had treated her and Merlin to dinner on Friday, mostly take out, which involved Gwen and Morgan joining them. So not a terrible way to end the day, coupled with the fact that she'd made it on time and NOT been fired, it was good. Actually, the dinner had been fun, even if she'd been subjected to watching her brother and Morgan make eyes at each other when they thought the other wasn't looking. It was a bit cute, she could admit, and she'd been shocked to come out of her poisoning and find out that Morgan had apparently kissed Merlin when he woke up. She doubted they had talked about it, but it didn't appear to be an unwelcome advance on either side. All of it turned sour when Uther had popped round, seeming exasperated that Arthur and Morgan were eating with 'the help' but wanting to speak to Arthur before he left for the day.
She'd only been able to overhear some of it, enough to know that Arthur was concerned that no progress had been made with something, someone named Rob had reported. It didn't take much to work out what they were talking about, there was only one Rob at the company and he was the one who took care of the dogs. Add that with a conversation she'd heard Arthur having earlier that morning about how one of the dogs wasn't acting like itself, was being skittish and not eating, and she knew it was Aurora.
She couldn't blame the poor dog, after what happened with Murphy. She, at least, had Merlin to stand beside her, to make her feel safe when the others were around during their training. The poor little dog must be terrified. Which was why she now found herself down where the dogs were kept, having stolen Arthur's ID card as they ate and used it to get into the room just before the building closed for the night. After what Murphy had done, security had been bumped up much more. She would have hacked in, easy, but that would be very obvious if she was found there how she got in. It was easier to just lift Arthur's card.
Merlin was off delivering a last minute tonic Gus had made for Morgan to the woman while she 'ran an errand' and they'd meet back by the main entrance in half an hour. She was not daft enough to try and break into the company after hours, not when Arthur and his father seemed so at ease with firing her or Merlin on a whim. She would have thought that her and Merlin nearly dying would have been cause enough for Uther to look the other way or listen to them more but they both doubted it. When they'd been hired, given the nature of Pendragon Security, from the defense weapons they manufactured to the chemicals their scientists worked with, it had been a stipulation in their contracts that they could not sue the company for any harm that befell them while working. The dinner had counted as them being 'on the clock' and working.
She winced as she opened the door to the room, she'd been trying to avoid it squeaking and waking up the dogs. Such was her luck. At least the majority just snuffed and whined before quieting down again. So she carefully made her way into the room, heading for Aurora's pen, doing her level best to ignore the spot where she'd been hurt herself. This wasn't about her, it was about Aurora.
So she quickly made her way through, knowing she'd only have a short while before Merlin would finish with Morgan and end up waiting for her. She paused, hearing a squeak behind her, but when she looked there was nothing there. She assumed it was one of the dogs, maybe they gave them some chew toys after a hard day's work. She shook her head and continued on till she reached Aurora's pen, frowning at the sight of the dog within.
The poor girl was huddled all the way in the back of the pen, as far away from the entrance as possible, "Oh Aurora," she murmured, her eyes drawn to the shaved portions of the dog's fur where some particular cuts from Murphy had needed to be further looked at, requiring a shave which only made the patches of missing fur more glaring. The dog was whimpering and shaking, "I'm so sorry I didn't get to you sooner," she told the dog.
She looked around before opening the pen, watching the dog carefully as it wiggled, as though trying to get farther back, but didn't whimper or bark or snarl at her so she took it as an ok. She stepped in and moved to sit down instantly, not taking a step closer to the dog and not wanting to tower over her. She just sat there, waiting, watching the dog, trying to be as calm a presence as she could be until the dog felt comfortable.
When the shaking began to lessen, she held up her hands, very slowly, to show she had no weapon in them, "It's ok," she murmured, shifting so she could hold one hand out, palm up, letting Aurora decide if she wanted to approach or sniff. She was hoping the dog might recognize her scent from when Murphy had attacked and realize she'd been the one to drive his scent off, "I won't hurt you," she continued to speak soothingly, "Remember me?" she smiled, "I came to help you. I got him to stop. He's gone, he won't hurt you again. He won't hurt me either."
She held her breath, not saying another word because Aurora had shifted, her head low, her back arched, like she thought she was in trouble, but she was reaching forward with her nose, sniffing the outstretched hand. She didn't dare move, waiting for the dog to make the final move and draw nearer. As soon as the dog's nose touched her palm, she slowly wiggled her fingers to scratch under her chin.
"There we go," she let out a breath, slowly moving her other arm to pet the dog's neck, behind her ears to her neck, being careful not to put her hand anywhere near her injuries, "Beautiful girl. See?" she moved the hand under her chin to the side, focusing more on her ear now, "It's alright. I promised I wouldn't hurt you. There we go."
It was almost like the dog knew her then, remembered her or recognized her, for she stepped even closer, seeming to almost crawl into her lap where her legs were crossed, "That's fine," she reassured, not that the dog needed permission.
…though it would prove harder to leave now, it was basically against the law to move when a puppy was laying on you, she was sure of it.
"You're fine, and I'm fine, we're both fine," she mumbled as she continued to pet the dog, "Both a little worse for the wear, but we've survived," she let out an almost sad snort herself, "We've got the scars to prove it."
"You've no idea how sorry I am that you do," a voice said behind her.
It was literally the fact that there was a frightened dog in her lap that kept her from jerking and instantly twisting towards the voice but, instead, turning her neck as much as it could to see Arthur there, just on the outside of the pen, his hands resting on the edge of the gate, a mix of anger, sadness, and regret clear on his face.
"No idea why," she shrugged, turning back to the dog who had begun to tremble a little. The dog couldn't see who it was, but could hear him, and even though she didn't doubt the animal was familiar with Arthur, and knew he loved her, she was likely very frightened of men right now, "YOU weren't the one to do this, you weren't the one making the marks," she glanced back over at him, "You were actually the one who saw to it that Murphy was fired."
"Still," he mumbled, sighing deeply, "I know how Murphy can be, he'd never take being beat by a woman well. I should have said something to him about it, made it clear retaliation would warrant termination."
She snorted, "If Murphy was willing to let his anger control him, then he had no business working for this company."
Arthur fell silent, watching as she absently pet Aurora till she calmed again, "She hasn't let anyone near her since, you know."
"I heard," she nodded, "I guess she just trusts me."
"Well, you did save her."
"Not all people whose lives are saved trust their saviors," she countered wisely, shooting him a pointed look that had him flinching.
She and Merlin had both had a hand in helping him, in saving him in some way, and all he'd shown them was a continued lack of trust even after the fact. He knew she was more angry with him in how he treated Merlin than herself. He probably would never earn her respect in that regard until the day came where he trusted and believed Merlin (and her) without hesitation or doubt.
"Come here," Maria's words cut through his thoughts.
"What?" he asked, glancing at Aurora, hesitating. She'd just said she knew Aurora was having a hard time…
"Come here," she repeated, "If you want Aurora to get back to normal, she needs to learn that she can trust others besides me. She'll never be able to if no one tries."
"Rob's tried," he argued, "And my father."
"Yes, and was there someone she clearly trusted right there to let her know it was ok?" she huffed, "Now, are you going to come here or am I going to have to drag you in?"
Something intelligent in him warned that he should not test her about that, she had grown up with a brother so she likely had experience dragging him into things. And…well…after what Murphy had done, he couldn't find it in himself to fight her in any way about this, so he cautiously opened the gate to the pen and stepped in. He could see Aurora shift in her lap, curling up more towards her as he moved into her line of sight.
"Sit down," Maria added, "Towering over her won't help."
He quickly plopped down, being careful not to sit too close and into the dog's space, Maria keeping her somewhat distracted with pets and small kisses dropped onto the top of her head.
"Now...very slowly, hold up your hands so she can see you don't have anything," Maria continued and he did so, knowing this might be his one chance to connect to Aurora, he wouldn't muck it up, "Then hold one out, so she can sniff you. Somewhere in her mind she must know your scent, she's just scared right now."
He twisted his one wrist, slowly reaching out to Aurora.
"Palm up," Maria hissed beside him, "Don't PET her!"
"But I always pet her," he nearly snapped at her tone, "If we're trying to remind her who I am, shouldn't I do things I normally do with her?"
"You can, once she recognizes you again," Maria pointed out, "If you don't turn that palm up all she'll see is a hand coming towards her and it could hit her. You have to let her reach out to you first. So sit there, shut up, and let her sniff your hand when she's good and ready."
"You do realize I could fire you for speaking to me like that," he grumbled.
"I'm off the clock," she shot right back.
He let out a huff, caught, and turned his palm up, waiting for Aurora to decide to sniff him or not, "So I just sit here like a bloody idiot for who knows how long?"
"I don't see why you're so upset, you've had plenty of practice sitting around and looking like an idiot before," she remarked dryly, before smirking at the look he gave her, "I'd wipe the scowl off your face, you might scare Aurora."
With a great deal of effort and restraint, he schooled his expression into as blank a mask as he could manage, though he was sure his irritation with her shown in his eyes. Still, he remained like that, waiting what felt like hours, his arm starting to cramp, waiting for Aurora to feel comfortable enough…when the dog finally did, leaning forward, still in Maria's lap, but pressing her nose into his palm.
He let out a breath and looked over at Maria, who was smiling softly at the sight, "I would keep away from her cuts," she offered when he was able to move his hand to pet her head behind the ears, "Maybe in a few months she'll feel comfortable enough, maybe even a few weeks, but until then…"
He looked back at Aurora, "Do you think she trusts me again?"
"I don't think she had a reason not to trust you, she's just spooked," she considered it, "Maybe it's just that, right now, she feels safe. Maybe she feels like nothing bad will happen to her if you're here."
Arthur looked over at her, even though she appeared concentrated on petting Aurora and making sure she was alright. It was the way she'd said that…it made him feel like she wasn't JUST talking about Aurora. She would have said 'we're here' if she had been talking about the dog alone. He said nothing about it, merely turning back to the dog with a warm feeling spreading through him. If she wasn't talking about only Aurora then…it meant, on some level, Maria trusted HIM, even after what happened with one of his trainees, she still felt safe with him.
He couldn't have stopped the smile growing on his face if he wanted to, even if it meant she noticed, "What?" she asked.
"Nothing," he said quickly, clearing his throat before adding, "Do you think she might be ok with my father trying?"
Maria had to consider that. His father was…quite intimidating on a good day, and he didn't seem the most patient man. She couldn't picture him sitting there like Arthur had and waiting for Aurora to make the first move, "I'm not sure. She might remember you more, but I still think any sudden moves would still make her skittish again. Maybe when she's fully comfortable around you and it's like normal again, then you could be the one to help your father work with her too."
Arthur nodded, glancing over at the girl, "Well," he cleared his throat, "We should head out," he warned, "The building will be closing soon and we've a full day ahead of us tomorrow."
"We?" she looked at him, carefully shifting to get Aurora off of her, unable to help smiling when the dog jumped up on her a bit to stretch and get one more pat, before following him to the gate and out it, "But it's Saturday, it's our day off."
"Yes, I know."
"You're not seriously calling us in on the weekend are you?" she grimaced at the idea.
"You'll be paid extra," he assured her, "But I've been made aware that I'm to supervise the orientation of the new trainees coming in, review the assessments of the current trainees, attend a board meeting with my father, inspect the facility prior to our next inspection, dine with my father, and then do rounds with some of the security," he reached up and rubbed his head, already a headache was starting just thinking about tomorrow, "Even I know I can't do all that alone."
Maria let out a laugh, "Never thought I'd see the day where the boss has more to do than the assistants."
"Ha ha," he rolled his eyes, "It's not as though I can just slack off like you and Merlin do."
"Why can't you?" she shook her head, ignoring his accusation that she and her brother were slackers.
"If I slack off at a meeting with other companies, we'll probably end up at competition with them instead of making a deal."
"I doubt that," she scoffed, before she smirked, a thought hitting her as they reached the hall, "What if there was a way to ensure that you could 'slack off' as you call it, and prevent a fallout at the same time?"
"And what way would that be?"
"How can anything happen because you slacked off if you are not there TO slack off?" she smirked.
"How could I be sure nothing would happen because I'm not there?" he countered.
"You said your father will be there. Now, he doesn't strike me as a man who would let his company fall to ruin just because his son didn't come to one meeting…"
"But when I'm CEO…"
"When you're CEO, right now you aren't, are you? I seriously doubt ONE day of slacking would kill you."
"You'd be surprised," he muttered, "My father would murder me."
"But then he'd have no son to take over the family business," she smirked, the only time Mr. Pendragon's archaic belief in how only men could handle running his company working in their favor, "I think you're safe. All you need to do is meet me at the back doors at dawn."
"Mari…" he nearly whined.
"Artie…" she mimicked.
"Artie?" he blinked, so startled at the name that he stopped walking in the doorway to the main hall of the building, stunned, "Where on earth did you get that from?"
"What?" she smirked, "You can give me a nickname, but I can't give you one?"
"It's highly unfitting for my secretary to address her boss as anything other than, Sir, Mr. Pendragon, or Boss," he stated, sounding more like he was reciting something than that he actually thought it. He HAD let them call him Arthur more often than not, "And anyway...Artie is a horrid nickname."
The smirk on her face grew positively evil, "Well, I suppose I shall have to refrain from calling you Artie then…"
"Thank you," he began.
"IF you meet me at dawn that is. Else, I'll be forced to call you Artie every chance I get for forever. And, do keep in mind, we have tannoy here, I can page you if need be."
"You're blackmailing me now, is that it?" he tried very hard to sound put off and cross, but the smile threatening to crack across his face nearly gave him away.
"I like to think of it more as...a challenge."
"Well, I'll have you know that I never back down from a challenge."
"So, dawn then?" she asked and he nodded, so she began to walk off towards the main entrance where she could see Merlin waiting for her with a wide 'I saw Morgan' grin on his face, "I'll see you then, Artie!" she called back.
He winced, glancing around to make sure no one heard that, when another thought struck him and he realized what he'd just agreed to, "How does she do that?" he murmured.
What he had just gotten himself into?
~8~
"Do I want to know what that was about?" Merlin asked as they walked down the street, heading for Gus's.
"No," she said simply, "And, besides, a better question would be what's got that smile on your face?" she teased, smiling at how a blush began to spread across his cheeks.
"W-what do you m-mean?" he stammered, "I'm not smiling…"
Maria snorted, "Merlin, you and I both know that I'll wheedle it out of you in some way, shape, or form, isn't it easier to just give in and tell me?"
He let out a long sigh, because that was true. The curse of younger sisters, they had ways of getting you to do things and say things and admit things. And he had no doubt she'd find a way to do so now, especially when it caused a blush he could feel heating his face, she'd never let it go and if he didn't want her to hack into the security systems at the company to see his encounter with Morgan and risk being found out and arrested…it WAS easier to just tell her.
"You were bringing Morgan a tonic from uncle," she began, elbowing him to pry, "And…"
He rolled his eyes, "I'll make you a deal," he offered instead, "I tell you about Morgan and you tell me what's up with Arthur."
"Deal," she said simply.
"Really?" he gave her a look, "THAT easy?"
She shrugged, "I really want to know what Morgan said and/or did to get you smiling," she said simply, growing a bit serious, "You're my brother, Merlin, I want you to be happy, and I just want to know that she makes you happy. If I have to tell you about Arthur's whining to do so, so be it."
He gave her a fond look and moved his arm around her shoulder in a half-hug, letting it stay there as they walked, "I went to drop off the tonic and she opened the door to her office wearing workout clothes," he smiled, recalling the form-fitted attire, "She goes to the company gym after work before heading home."
"Alright, don't care, continue," Maria teased, if just to irritate him because he found absolutely everything Morgan did fascinating.
"I dropped it off and…our hands brushed and it was like this electrical shock went through me," he sighed like a love-sick idiot, which he likely was at that point, "She invited me into her office and we were both just standing there till we both blurted out that we should talk."
"About the kiss?" Maria asked, before poking his side, "Or how you could cut the sexual tension between you two with a knife?"
"Mia!" he slapped her hand away, removing his arm, "Keep it up I'll tell you squat."
"Please," she scoffed, "You're dying to tell someone or you'll explode. It's either me or Gus. Spill."
He muttered under his breath about bratty little sisters, avoiding the messenger bag she tried to hit him with, before taking a breath, "About the kiss," he finished, his cheeks flaming red now to have to say this to his little sister, but she was right, he really thought he might explode if he didn't get this out, "She um," he grinned like a school boy, "She said she likes me, likes having me around, and she was very happy I was alive."
"And, let me guess, you made some awful joke about how you should be poisoned more often?"
"I really hate that you know me so well," he grumbled, "Anyway, she…she told me that she has nightmares sometimes and Gus's tonics usually help her sleep. I told her, if she ever had a bad one, or needed to talk to someone, I'm a night owl and…oi!" he huffed, "Stop laughing!"
And, indeed, Maria was cackling her head off beside him, "Oh, my god, Merlin. YOU? A Night Owl?" she laughed even more at the thought.
"I could be," he insisted.
She scoffed, "You so much as see a bed in the night time and you fall asleep," she pointed out, "I hope you set your mobile VERY loud."
It was clear to her he meant to offer Morgan to call him any time if she had a nightmare, she wouldn't begrudge him that, nor would she complain if Morgan took him up on it and woke her up in the process too. She could tell this was very important to her brother and, as much as she teased him about it, she would never do anything that could jeopardize his happiness.
"And then I went to the entrance to wait for you," Merlin looked at her pointedly, "And you come swanning out with Arthur."
She rolled her eyes at how he wiggled his eyebrows at her, "I went to check on Aurora, see if I could help. Arthur found me and, between the two of us, we got her to let him pet her."
"That's great," Merlin smiled.
"And then I tricked him into giving us tomorrow off and NOT calling us in by blackmailing him into shirking his duties for a romp in the woods."
"Mia," he huffed, "Seriously?" he shook his head at her, trying to hold in the laugh that wanted to escape, "What are you trying to do? Corrupt the CEO-in-Training? Pulling him away from his duties for a day of adventure in the woods."
She laughed as well, "Of course I am," she winked, "In the woods no one can hear him scream."
He almost thought she was serious, for a single moment, because, if he was being honest, there were at least 3 times through the day where he contemplated stabbing Arthur with a pencil, but he knew she was joking, "Just be careful, the woods behind the company are used for training, who knows what sort of traps and things they've got set up."
"I know," she sighed, digging through her bag as they reached the door to Gus's and rooting for the key, "We won't go too far away, and I'll be sure to be on guard in case Arthur takes his own revenge and wants to let me walk into a booby trap," she glanced over at him as she put the key in, "And, I promise not to corrupt him too much. Can't have the head of a company like Pendragon Security shirk his duties ALL the time now can we?"
Merlin just laughed and pushed the door open, ready for the weekend.
~8~
Arthur grumbled to himself for what felt like the hundredth time in the last 10 minutes as he waited for Maria at the back doors to the company, the woods mere feet away. HE had been there at the crack of dawn, but the girl was nowhere to be seen. He was going to give her another 5 minutes before he headed inside to go about the day he originally had planned…when Maria appeared. He nearly fell over as he watched her run towards him…in a skirt. A long, white skirt that went to her ankles.
For a brief moment he wondered if this was a date she'd tricked him on, he was wearing his sweat suit since it was supposed to be an easy day in the woods.
He winced when she nearly tripped over the skirt in her haste, hiking it up enough that he could see brown boots as she ran, calling out, "Sorry I'm late," she huffed, trying to catch her breath, "I ran into Morgan in the parking lot and she insisted that I wear a skirt today," she gestured down at it, Morgan had even brought this very skirt WITH her so she was suspicious Arthur had told the woman and she'd planned to get there early to corner her and 'dress her up' a little more, "I've no idea why."
Well that answered that, Arthur realized, not a date, just Morgan interfering.
"As I've said before," he remarked, "I'm getting used to you and your brother's lateness."
She gave him an unimpressed look, "Come on," was all she said, heading off towards the woods, slinging her bag further onto her shoulder as she went.
They walked for a short while in a companionable silence, until Arthur couldn't take it anymore, "Where are we going?"
"Nowhere," she said simply, shrugging, "Anywhere. Everywhere."
"That's really helpful, thanks."
"That's the point," she laughed, "Today," she took a deep breath, "We can do whatever we want. No training, no phone calls, no meetings, no errands."
"What else is there to do?" he seemed truly bewildered by the thought that there could be anything besides that to do.
She let out a snort, thinking he was joking, before she realized, "Oh you…you're serious?"
He could only shrug.
She was a bit lost at that, not used to someone thinking such a way. Back home, for her and Merlin, it was often nonstop work, between school and various jobs, helping their mother round the house, helping her with her garden for extra fruits and vegetables...but they still managed to have fun. She honestly wondered if Arthur even knew what that was, besides beating up his training partners and making remarks when she and Merlin toiled away on his endless errands and requests. Though, with his father being who and how he was, she didn't imagine he or Morgan had much fun on the side.
"Well," she considered it, all the possibilities, "We could take a walk, explore, talk. Or we could go swimming in that lake," she tried to remember the map she'd looked at of the Pendragon property and what was where for their training, they had to ensure their trainees could swim, "Or find a clearing to just laze about, climb a tree…anything."
Arthur smiled as he listened to her suggestions. They were all fairly stupid in his book, but…there was something in the idea of doing them with Maria that made him reconsider. They might actually be fun to do. He hadn't really done any of them to any noticeable degree as a child, his father pushing him to do well in his private tutoring lessons and training and shadowing him for how to run the business. He supposed he could give it a chance.
"Well," he smiled, "While we walk and explore, what do you want to talk about?"
She shrugged, "Anything. I'm an open book."
Near enough.
Arthur seemed to be genuinely considering what he wanted to know, but his mind kept coming back to "How did you know how to handle Aurora?"
"I dunno," she shrugged, "Just…seemed the right way to handle her? I imagined how I'd feel if it happened to me, which, you know, it did, so I just did what I'd want someone to do for me," she was quite a moment, "She seems like a very old dog."
"She is," he agreed, "She was the last pup my mum's breeding dogs had after she died," even though his mother hadn't personally trained Aurora, they all still considered her to be his mother's dog, it was really his last connection to her, "She'll be 10 soon," he didn't want to add 'and nearing her end.'
"Is she the oldest dog at the company?"
"I suppose," he thought on it, "There's another dog, a bit younger, from my grandfather's run with breeding dogs. I call him Bartok."
"Was Bartok in the pens?" she wondered.
"Yeah," he nodded, "He's a chocolate lab, across the room from her. He was the dog I learned to train dogs with."
She smiled, picturing a younger Arthur trying to get a puppy to sit and only getting licks in the face for his efforts, "That actually sounds adorable."
He scoffed mock-offended, "I'll have you know I am always adorable," he chuckled, "Bartok was a fast learner, one of the best attack dogs we had. Used to use him for demonstrations. He's a bit slow now that he's older, but he's fiercely loyal and protective. I still take him out on walks through the woods every now and then. One time I took him out and decided to climb a tree. Fell right out and sprained my ankle, Bartok took off back to the building and got some of the staff to follow him to me."
"Impressive," she nodded, and it was, not that she had much to go on, she didn't get involved with the dog training end of the business beyond helping Rob feed them and clean the pens every so often when Arthur was in a punishing mood, "You'll have to point him out next time we visit Aurora."
Arthur nodded and began to talk more about the various dogs he'd trained over the years. His father was very big on him knowing how each end of the business worked, having a hand in each aspect of protection they offered. Which soon led to talking of other training methods, then to the men he trained with, to the competitions they had.
Before they realized it, they'd been talking for nearly three hours and were currently speaking of how she and Merlin had basically saved Arthur's life during his demonstration with Valiant by warning him what to look for and be on guard against.
Arthur rolled his eyes in mock anger, "I would have realized it myself and been fine. He wasn't exactly being subtle. I would have realized it and thought of something."
"I'm sure you would have," she remarked dryly, "You would have thought 'ow, I've just been stabbed by something!'" she laughed at the false-hurt look on his face.
"You wound me," he moved a hand over his heart, making her laugh harder.
"Don't tempt me," she teased, though there was a hint of challenge in her voice.
Arthur was the one snorting out a laugh now, "Need I remind you, you are speaking to the best trained fighter at Pendragon Security?"
"Ooh, oh no, I've just wet myself," she rolled her eyes.
He scoffed, "If you weren't a girl, I'd wrestle some respect out of you."
"As if you could," she challenged outright now.
His eyes narrowed, "I'll have you know, I've wrestled the best men at the company."
"I'm sure you have," she nodded, "The best men, but what about the women?"
He stared at her as though she'd lost her mind, "There aren't any women in the program!" or at least none in the current classes that dealt with physical attacks.
"And why's that?" she wondered, "Afraid if you let them in they'll beat you?"
"No," he shook his head, as though just realizing there really weren't many women in any of the training programs, "They just…haven't signed up."
"Well maybe you're methods don't appeal to them," she suggested, before stepping back and getting into something of a 'ready' pose, "Let's see what they're like."
Before Arthur could speak, Maria unclipped something on her waist, revealing the skirt to be more a wrap around fabric than a genuine skirt, which she threw to the side to reveal the shorts she'd been planning to wear in the first place.
He shook his head, "You can't be serious," he muttered.
"Oh, very," she nodded, before smirking, "Why? Afraid I'll beat you?"
"Yes, because I'm so scared of getting beat by a girl," he rolled his eyes.
"I can tell," she nodded, "Why else would you refuse to fight me?"
"How about, I'd hurt you?" he began to tick off the reasons on his hand, "You haven't been properly trained? You're back is still healing? You were just pois…"
"My back is fine," she cut in, "I'm clearly healed enough from being poisoned if you had me running around on your stupid errands. For all we know I could be the one to hurt YOU," she ignored his scoff, "And I have a brother, what makes you think we've never wrestled for the television controls?" she could see him considering it, but still not sold. If she had to literally run at him, tackle him to the ground, and pin him just to get this started and prove girls could handle his program and make him consider that maybe they should start marketing to women too, she was fine with that, "Besides," she added, "It's not like I'd let you get a good enough hold to actually hurt me."
"Is that so?" his eyes narrowed at the challenge, before he slowly mirrored her crouching position, ready.
If he was being honest though, a part of him was glad she'd interrupted him. He didn't ever want to remember when she'd been poisoned, nor Murphy's attack. Just thinking about how he'd had to watch her dying in such a way, to find out she'd been injured by one of HIS employees…it just made something grow cold in him. Both events had shaken him, but the poisoning had been the worst, he had witnessed that, been there for it, at least he'd managed to save her from that when he couldn't protect her from Murphy.
In a way, it was almost like he hadn't truly realized how much he'd come to enjoy her being around till he'd nearly had to face a future where she wasn't there. He found himself, when he'd gone off to try and recover the antidote, thinking about all the comments she'd made, the laughs he'd heard, the way she smirked…he hadn't wanted to imagine not having that again. She and her brother had nearly died for him, to keep him safe, and he appreciated them both all the more for it.
"I dare you to prove me wrong," Maria challenged, pulling him out of his thoughts.
And, really, that was all she needed to say before he rushed at her, trying to twist her so she'd fall down by latching onto her arms, but she merely returned the favor, using him and her grip as leverage for her balance. And, because he clearly wanted to take her down, she also returned the favor by moving her foot behind his, shifting it to knock his leg out from under him. She let herself be pulled down with him, ensuring she landed on top of him, with his arms pinned to the ground.
She smirked in victory, though it only lasted a moment before he twisted, flipping them both so he was on top and pinning her down.
After that it was a genuine wrestling competition, both of them going for headlocks and arm holds, among other underhanded tricks, though each seemed to know enough to keep the other from getting the upper hand. As soon as Maria thought that, Arthur managed to pin her down, his knees holding her legs as his hands encircled her wrists, earning a glare from her for she knew she had been defeated.
Another moment later…and they both burst out laughing, though Arthur didn't relinquish his position, just moved his legs so they wouldn't be digging into her too much, "Where did you learn to wrestle?" he had to ask, half panting.
"I DID say I have a brother," she reminded him, "And we very much did, and still do, wrestle for control of the television."
"He doesn't seem like the wrestling type," Arthur remarked.
"Well I wasn't the sort to have many female friends as a kid," she tried to shrug, but he really had her pinned, "Merlin's friends were my friends."
Not that he had many friends besides Will. But Will had a LOT of male cousins so he had plenty of experience wrestling them.
Arthur looked down at her again, releasing one of her arms so he could brush a piece of hair that had fallen into her face behind her ear, noticing how her eye kept twitching when the strand brushed against it. He couldn't help the smile on his face when she looked up at him, not even seeming to notice when his hand drifted from her ear to her cheek, gently stroking it. He could feel her heart beating beneath him and knew his own was matching hers as it raced. He felt himself leaning forward, just inches from her lips, careful to be sure that she could shove him if she wanted to now that her arm was free…but she didn't…and…
Then a growl sounded beside them, followed by a rustling noise of something in the bushes.
Arthur turned, quick as a flash, to see what looked like a bull, of all things, rushing out of the treeline and heading right for them. He rolled to the side, taking Maria with him so the bull would run past them before he leapt to his feet, pulling her up. It didn't stop in its run, just used the momentum to turn in a bend and head for them again.
"Is that a bull?!" Maria gaped at it, it looked like a large breed of red cattle, but it had no place being in the woods unless it escaped from some nearby farm…only there weren't any anywhere close.
"Never mind that, run!" Arthur shouted as he pushed Maria behind him, trying to shove her towards the trees, "I'll hold it off."
"How are you going to do that?" she demanded, seeing it charging again, only for the glint of sun to catch something on the side of the bull's head, "What is that…" she began.
But Arthur cut her off, "I'll think of something, just go!" he yelled again, shoving her away and jumping back to avoid the bull charging past, "Maria!" he snapped when she only turned to him instead of the trees.
"I'm not leaving!" she snapped, though it appeared to draw the bull's attention as it turned and began running right for her this time.
Arthur leapt forward, shoving her out of the way but went flying into the air as the bull ran into him.
"Arthur!" she gasped, trying to get to his side. He had a pulse, but he was clearly knocked out. She looked up to see the bull, invigorated by its attack success, moving for her again. She looked around, spotting something behind her and turned back to the bull waiting as long as she could stand, till it was nearly too close, before she dove to the side.
The bull smashed its head against the large tree behind her, knocking it out as well.
She panted as she pulled herself to her knees, staring at the bull, she didn't know how long this would last but at least she was out of danger for the moment. She swallowed hard and moved over to it as quietly as she could, till she was beside it, on its right, frowning down at the metal stuck to the side of its head. It looked like some sort of circuit with a small antennae on the side of it.
"What the hell…" she breathed, crouching down to try and pry it off the animal, dropping it when it sparked in her hand before carefully trying to pick it up again and see what it was...
She shook her head, she didn't have time to worry about that right now, she had to get Arthur and herself out of there as soon as possible. She moved to her bag, dropping the circuit into it and slinging it over her shoulder before she moved to Arthur, kneeling down and trying to shake him awake.
But he wouldn't stir.
She hoped he'd be alright, that he'd just been hit hard on the head but…she knew headwounds could be serious and tricky. She had to get him back to Gus and fast. Now she just had to figure out HOW she was going to do that.
She sighed, blowing a bit of hair out of her face as she looked around. All she had was her bag that had some food in it and the skirt Morgan had insisted she wear and…
Hold on…that just might work!
She ran over to where she'd thrown the skirt and carried it over to Arthur, laying it down right behind him as flat as she could. She stepped on it, putting her arms under his and used all her might to heave him onto the end of the skirt, using some of the extra fabric to tie him to it just to be safe. She moved back to the other end of the skirt and picked up the ends, tying it around her waist.
This was going to be humiliating for both her and Arthur, her lugging him back on a makeshift sleigh, but needs must.
She sighed, regretting how far they'd gone into the woods and the fact that they'd made it to the other side of the lake and, therefore, couldn't just walk straight back but had to go around it now, before she tried to take a few steps, struggling with Arthur's dead weight pulling her back, but once she got some momentum and traction she was walking as well as she could. She just needed to stick to the smoothest path back, lest she never hear the end of it if Arthur got scraped up on the ground of the woods.
~8~
Merlin was trying his best not to reveal how nervous he was as he made his way through Pendragon Security, heading for Morgan's office. It was a Saturday, so she should have off, but she'd called him last night, taken him up on his offer to phone if she had nightmares and had mentioned she would probably pop into the office to get some work done, burn off the energy from her dreams. He probably shouldn't be there, maybe Morgan wouldn't want to see him so soon after a nightmare. Whenever Maria had had one as a kid, she'd get very defensive about it the next day, she hated appearing vulnerable.
But…Morgan had called him so…maybe she would want to see him sooner than later?
It probably hadn't helped his nerves any that he'd run into Mr. Pendragon on the way and the man was fuming, demanding to know where Arthur was. He'd said exactly what Maria told him to say, that he'd gotten a security notification of a possible breach on the grounds and had gone into the woods with a small squad to investigate.
The man didn't need to know that the 'small squad' was one person and his sister.
He'd probably narrowly avoided being demoted or fired, so he was understandably jumpy when he ran into Gwen one one of the stairwells, having stopped there to debate with himself whether he should really go see Morgan today or wait till Monday. Gwen said Morgan wanted to see him, but for what? To tell him not to speak of the nightmares? To thank him for listening? To tell him to lose her number? To tell him to tell Gus if the tonic helped or not? And WHEN did she want to see him? Today? Tomorrow? Monday? Later in the week?
He was a mess.
He took a breath as he reached her door, steeling himself, and gently knocked, waiting for it to open and unable to help smiling when he saw her in some more casual clothing, a nice warm sweater with cargo pants of all things.
"Merlin!" she cheered, with such a wide smile that his heart began racing for an entirely different reason.
"Miss Pendragon…" he began.
She rolled her eyes, "It's Morgan," she insisted, stepping aside to let him in, "Come in. I'm so glad Gwen ran into you, I wanted to ask you something..."
"Yes?" he asked, trying not to sound too eager or hopeful about what it might be.
"Last night, we talked, yes?" she questioned, seeming a little unsure, as though she weren't sure if she'd dreamed it or not, until he nodded, "Good," she let out a breath, "Sometimes, after I have a nightmare I'm not sure if I'm still dreaming," she explained, "Thank you," she continued, "I was really frightened and…hearing your voice, knowing you were there, even just over the phone, it really helped. Things didn't seem so frightening anymore," she looked at him softly, "Really, thank you."
He smiled in return, "You're very welcome. I'm glad I could help."
"You know," she mused, "For the first time in…a really long time, I was able to fall back asleep afterwards," she eyed him, "I think it was because of you," she told him, "It was one of the best sleeps I've had in a while."
"What was it about?" he asked, "The nightmare. If you don't mind my asking…" he added quickly at the end. When she'd called last night it was more to be calmed down, to talk about anything else besides her nightmare, get her mind off of it.
"It's silly," she tried to laugh but he could see a tightness around her eyes that indicted she HAD been very scared, "Arthur was in the woods with Ria, he yelled something, and there was this...bull, an honest to god BULL in the woods," she shook her head at how ridiculous it sounded, "Next thing I knew Ria's dragging him through the woods."
Merlin chuckled, "Does sound a bit silly," he tried to tease.
"Oh, that's not even the silliest part," Morgan smiled, "Arthur was dressed up like some sort of medieval knight and Ria was wearing a dress."
Merlin snorted, "That DOES sound like a nightmare," he had to add, "Trying to get Mia to wear anything fancy would scare anyone."
He debated for a moment, hearing Morgan laughing and smiling, whether he should tell her that his sister actually WAS in the woods with Arthur right now, but it seemed he didn't need to…because a second later, alarms went off throughout the facility.
Morgan jumped, rushing to her computer, getting direct reports of what was going on, and her eyes widened, "Injury on the training grounds," she said, "By the…woods?" she frowned, "No one's scheduled to be there today…"
Merlin ran over to the window, Morgan's office facing the woods, and his eyes widened, "Mia!" he called out, spotting the faint image of his sister half-dragging an unconscious Arthur behind her on a trail of white fabric.
He turned and bolted out of the room, Morgan quick behind him…
~8~
Stupid boy, stupid hero, stupid Arthur!
It was the mantra running through Maria's head as she dragged Arthur's prone form through the woods, now finally within sight of Pendragon Security. Really, it had been HOURS now and he was STILL sleeping? She didn't want to think it was that he hit his head THAT hard, so he must just be lazy. She'd done it, it was her fault, she was the only one to blame if she'd corrupted Arthur so much he'd sleep through actual work now.
She winced, trying not to put too much weight on her right leg. She'd stumbled in the woods, her foot catching on the root of a tree, which twisted it painfully. She had been halfway back to the building, maybe a little more, had been making good time too...until that. It was mere hours before the sun would begin to set, Arthur was sleeping, she was tired and hungry and she did NOT need injury added to it all damn it! She had been lucky, though, that the training ground of Pendragon Security were not as vast as a forest, so she'd grit her teeth and kept going, slower than before and with more frequent breaks in between which explained why she was only just reaching the building moments before dusk.
She had cursed herself the rest of the way that she should have gone back for her mobile when she realized she'd left it in Morgan's car, having tossed it there with her bag when Morgan forced the skirt on her but no, she hadn't. She had no way of calling the company for help, Arthur was so cocky he hadn't brought his mobile with him either.
It wasn't so bad now though, because she had only made it a few feet out of the woods when two security officers saw her approaching with a 'wounded' Arthur and sounded the alarms.
Compared to how long it took her to reach the facility again, it felt like the blink of an eye before Mr. Pendragon himself was rushing out of the building with a handful of guards, only to see his son being dragged forward by his secretary, who likely looked like she'd crawled through the mud and bushes along the way.
"Arthur!" he shouted, rushing forward.
"Ria!" Morgan was quickly behind with Merlin following, all of them hurrying towards her.
"Are you alright?" Merlin asked his sister as she nearly sagged against him, tugging at the skirt around her to untie it from her waist and release herself. Instantly she lifted up her leg, gripping at her ankle with her other hand. It was starting to feel like they'd both ended up injured more often in the time they'd been working for the Pendragons than they had the whole of their lives.
And that was saying something given how clumsy they were on a daily basis.
"What happened?" Mr. Pendragon all but demanded, striding over with Gus, who had been there incase any injuries happened with the orientation.
Gus, knowing how his boss could be, and seeing his niece awake and standing (albeit with support), moved to check on Arthur first, being the one prone and unconscious.
"Arthur was searching for a breach in security," she lied flawlessly, "He found it."
"And?"
"It wasn't a person," she rubbed her hip from where the skirt had been digging in, "It was an animal that got through the fencing. It got spooked and tried to attack us, Arthur lured it off and chased it away, but it hit him as it was running, threw him to the side. I went to check on Arthur and he was unconscious, so I brought him back here."
It was as close to the truth as she could get without adding in the odd circuit she'd found attached to the wayward bull. She'd had a moment in the woods, when she'd taken a small break to catch her breath, to examine the circuit. It had the Pendragon logo on it, and if she brought it up now, he'd go nuclear trying to find out how it got out of the facility. She and Merlin and Gus could work that out, she was sure…once they knew what the chip actually did.
"You...dragged my son through the woods?" Mr. Pendragon repeated slowly, eyeing her. She didn't seem that strong, but the proof was in front of his eyes.
"Yes, sir," she just barely refrained from keeping the gritting quality out of her voice, "I made a sort of sleigh using the skirt," she nodded at it, "Pulled Arthur back here."
At that, he tuned back to Gus, "How is he?"
"Perfectly fine, sir," he assured the man, "He'll have a bit of a bruise on his head the next few days, but other than that, unwounded. He's sleeping."
"I knew it," Maria muttered under her breath, the ponce!
Mr. Pendragon motioned for the guards to pick up Arthur and gestured back at the facility, likely to bring him to the infirmary portion for monitoring, before he called out, "Come Morgan," and headed for the building, offering a, "Gus, see to you niece," as he went.
"Of course, sir," Gus nodded, moving to Maria's side as she hopped in place, "You have a lot of explaining to do, young lady."
Maria dropped her head to Merlin's shoulder and shook it, "Can we do that after my foot doesn't feel like it's on fire?" she asked.
Merlin chuckled, twisting to scoop his sister into his arms and carry her to the infirmary as well, not about to let her try and walk there when she could barely even stand on it.
~8~
Arthur yawned, semi-stretching to the point where he jolted, nearly falling off the side of his bed…which helped him realize he wasn't actually IN his bed as it was much larger, and far more comfortable, than where he was. He pushed himself up to a sit, looking around at the infirmary, at the darkness through the windows, and frowned. Last he recalled, it had been daylight and he'd been outside.
But even stranger than that…was that his father was sitting in what looked like an incredibly uncomfortable chair at his bedside, his arms crossed over his chest, lightly snoring.
"Father?" he asked, startling the man awake.
"Arthur!" his father breathed, relief evident in his words. It wasn't that he didn't trust Gus's assessment, he just wanted to make sure Arthur was alright himself, "How are you?"
"Fine," he replied, shrugging, "A bit confused, though. What's going on?"
"You don't remember?"
"Apparently not," Arthur rolled his eyes, "What happened?"
"You were in the woods today instead of attending to any of the duties on your calendar," he gave Arthur a pointed look, earning a wince from the man.
"Father, I can explain..."
He held up a hand, "Your secretary explained everything."
"Mari?" he blinked, "What did she say?"
"She told me you received word of a security breach along the fencing and went to examine it," he smiled at the initiative, the dedication to security, "And how you were able to drive away the animal that had gotten through."
"I…drove it away," he repeated slowly, trying to recall how he had done that.
He could remember being in the woods, he and Maria wrestling and how he...oh, dear lord, had he really been about to kiss her? He mentally slapped himself for that, he had a girlfriend! He couldn't just go kissing other women! He wasn't that sort of person! He'd have to do better, put more distance between himself and Maria, he couldn't just fire her for his own mistakes, that wasn't fair to her, no he...he'd just be better, make it up to his girlfriend his near lapse in judgement and keep things strictly professional between himself and his secretary, there were enough stereotypes about that as it was. No more walks alone in the woods either.
Though that brought him back to the matter at hand right now, he remembered being in the woods, he remembered a bull charging at him, but nothing past that.
"According to your secretary, yes," his father smiled even more, "I'm very proud of you, Arthur. When I saw her bringing you back to the facility I was deeply concerned and…"
"Mari brought me back?" he shook his head, he was even more confused now.
His father nodded, "She said you had been knocked unconscious in the attack and she dragged back on a makeshift sleigh, quite...resourceful, really."
"Mari dragged me back here? All the way through the woods?" Arthur let out a breath of relief when his father nodded, he'd been worried that she'd been hurt, but he needed to make sure she was really alright, "Where is she?"
His father merely gestured over to the side, where Maria was sleeping on a cot of her own, her foot bound in a bandage, wrapped tight and peeking out through the bottom of the blanket, she looked exhausted.
So focused was he on watching Maria, making sure she was breathing, his eyes tracing every feature to ensure she was truly alright, he didn't even notice his father watching him with a raised brow.
"She's ok," Arthur breathed, more to himself than his father.
But his father spoke anyway, "She was merely worn out after everything."
Arthur shifted to sit up more, turning on a small lamp next to his bed to see her more clearly, and winced when he noticed there were a few scratches on her face, "But she WAS hurt."
"A sprained ankle and scratches from branches," his father said, eyeing him more contemplatively now, "Nothing that can't heal."
Arthur nodded, turning the lamp off, silent and deep in thought. He would likely be required to remain there overnight, under Gus's careful eye for observations. When Maria woke up in the morning, he'd be sure to tell her that she and Merlin were excused from their duties on Monday. He could handle the work load for one day, he was sure.
Right now, what was most important to him, was that Maria healed.
A/N: I know, no unicorn equivalent like in the main story :( But I figured that the training grounds wouldn't be as expansive as a Forest like in the show, too many new buildings around now compared to back then, less space, so she wouldn't need the extra help to get back to the building :(
I can say that something Killian said is going to be sticking with Maria into the next chapter and giving her a lot to think/worry about }:)
And what was that circuit Maria found on the bull? Why was it there? What was it doing? I suppose we'll find out soon }:)
Some notes on reviews...
I have to start by saying I am SO sorry that this took so long to get back to. A lot happened the last 5 years, between weddings in the family, divorces, cancer recoveries, new pets, siblings moving out, job changes, some stress-induced anxiety issues, therapy, and then Covid just wrecking everyone's lives :/ But things are better now and I am very much back and planning to update this story again ;) I'm so sorry if I worried anyone. I kept trying to come back and then something else would crop up and be like 'lol, nope!' :/ So this story is now back in action, just more like a turtle than the hare ;)
Oh Arthur's girlfriend :) I can say his father does NOT approve of her, and Morgan doesn't like her much }:) Arthur though, he's having a very tough time of it all, because he's starting to become aware that he IS attracted to Maria, for more than just her looks, but he is a very loyal person so he's pretty much kicking himself for nearly kissing her, which might put a bit of tension between them as he tries (tries!) to distance himself from her. Though he may find that situation resolved very soon ;) We'll be getting more of Maria at the museum and a bit of a different side to 'Killian' compared to his main story counterpart ;) I think he's learned not to be as cryptic or put so much on his young charges as before, it's a different time that'll require different methods of influence ;) We got a bit of a glimpse of the odd dream here with Morgan, but we'll have to wait and see if more comes from others ;)
Uther is definitely not bothered, both because he genuinely didn't believe them and because he knows he's 'legally' protected so he's not 'at fault' due to the contracts they signed when they were hired :/ Jerk :/
Lol, that's completely understandable, I tripped over her name the first few times she kept insisting it was her name in my head. I think that's where the whole 'Maria' joke came from because I thought she meant that at first and she got so mad at me over it that I HAD to add it to the stories :)
I'm definitely continuing with the story, no worries ;) I can say we'll see a bit of time-crossing in this story, but maybe not in a very literal/physical way as that. It may be closer to certain people remembering things, or key moments where...perhaps...a memory is erased and so a past life fills its spot in the modern day for a time ;) ;)
Oh we'll very much see more of Arthur reacting to Maria wearing blue ;) Sophia's arc will be coming to the forefront very soon ;) And we'll get a bit of Arthur seeing Maria at work at the museum here and there ;) I'll definitely do my best to make the chapters longer though, there's a lot the modern world has to offer that the medieval world doesn't so that'll take some adapting ;)